U.S. Concealed Carry
“Armed American Report”
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Dear Friend,
What a week! Spring is definitely here… and it feels GREAT!
I’ve got a GREAT issue of ‘the Armed American Report’ for you this week, but first, a couple of things I’d like to say:
First order of business- I am STILL working on sorting all of the testimonials that I received, but I promise to announce a winner of the ‘Testimonial Contest’ during the April 4th issue of this newsletter.
In the mean time, have you heard of my new, exciting contest? This one is MUCH… MUCH easier and faster to participate in than the last one, and takes just a minute or two to enter into. All you gotta do is get your friends to sign up for this newsletter. If that sounds easy, it’s because it is.
I’ve made it really easy, and I’ll put a link to the contest page right below this paragraph. Basically, you send your friend to a web page that I made, and if they sign up and enter your email address as the one who ‘referred’ them, you get an entry.
http://uscca.us/Armed_American_Report_Challenge.html
Best of all, I’m rewarding the same prizes twice, on two fronts. So you can win the TOP prize (a new pistol) by referring the most people, and you can also win an identical pistol (as well as ammo and holsters) by referring just one person, because those prizes will be raffled off at random!
So it should be a lot of fun!
Anyway, how about we get to this newsletter? It’s going to be GREAT!
USCCA Laugh of the Week
Guns Save Lives
by John Stossel
found at www.townhall.com
It’s all too predictable. A day after a gunman killed six people and wounded 18 others at Northern Illinois University, The New York Times criticized the U.S. Interior Department for preparing to rethink its ban on guns in national parks.
The editorial board wants “the 51 senators who like the thought of guns in the parks — and everywhere else, it seems — to realize that the innocence of Americans is better protected by carefully controlling guns than it is by arming everyone to the teeth.”
As usual, the Times editors seem unaware of how silly their argument is. To them, the choice is between “carefully controlling guns” and “arming everyone to the teeth.” But no one favors “arming everyone to the teeth” (whatever that means). Instead, gun advocates favor freedom, choice and self-responsibility. If someone wishes to be prepared to defend himself, he should be free to do so. No one has the right to deprive others of the means of effective self-defense, like a handgun.
As for the first option, “carefully controlling guns,” how many shootings at schools or malls will it take before we understand that people who intend to kill are not deterred by gun laws? Last I checked, murder is against the law everywhere. No one intent on murder will be stopped by the prospect of committing a lesser crime like illegal possession of a firearm. The intellectuals and politicians who make pious declarations about controlling guns should explain how their gunless utopia is to be realized.
While they search for — excuse me — their magic bullet, innocent people are dying defenseless.
That’s because laws that make it difficult or impossible to carry a concealed handgun do deter one group of people: law-abiding citizens who might have used a gun to stop crime. Gun laws are laws against self-defense.
Criminals have the initiative. They choose the time, place and manner of their crimes, and they tend to make choices that maximize their own, not their victims’, success. So criminals don’t attack people they know are armed, and anyone thinking of committing mass murder is likely to be attracted to a gun-free zone, such as schools and malls.
Government may promise to protect us from criminals, but it cannot deliver on that promise. This was neatly summed up in book title a few years ago: “Dial 911 and Die.” If you are the target of a crime, only one other person besides the criminal is sure to be on the scene: you. There is no good substitute for self-responsibility.
How, then, does it make sense to create mandatory gun-free zones, which in reality are free-crime zones?
The usual suspects keep calling for more gun control laws. But this idea that gun control is crime control is just a myth. The National Academy of Sciences reviewed dozens of studies and could not find a single gun regulation that clearly led to reduced violent crime or murder. When Washington, D.C., passed its tough handgun ban years ago, gun violence rose.
The press ignores the fact that often guns save lives.
It’s what happened in 2002 at the Appalachian School of Law. Hearing shots, two students went to their cars, got their guns and restrained the shooter until police arrested him.
Likewise, law professor Glen Reynolds writes, “Pearl, Miss., school shooter Luke Woodham was stopped when the school’s vice principal took a .45 from his truck and ran to the scene. In (last) February’s Utah mall shooting, it was an off-duty police officer who happened to be on the scene and carrying a gun”.
It’s impossible to know exactly how often guns stop criminals. Would-be victims don’t usually report crimes that don’t happen. But people use guns in self-defense every day. The Cato Institute’s Tom Palmer says just showing his gun to muggers once saved his life.
“It equalizes un-equals,” Palmer told “20/20″. “If someone gets into your house, which would you rather have, a handgun or a telephone? You can call the police if you want, and they’ll get there, and they’ll take a picture of your dead body. But they can’t get there in time to save your life. The first line of defense is you.”
John Stossel is an award-winning news correspondent and author of Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel–Why Everything You Know is Wrong.
Be the first to read John Stossel’s column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com delivered each morning to your inbox.
©Creators Syndicate
Listen, I figure that if you love getting the ‘Armed American Report’ for free on Fridays, you’ll love to hear about the deal I’ve been cooking up!
Did you ever think that it would be possible to win a new pistol with only 60 seconds of your time…?
I’m letting you in on a little secret: if you are reading this email, you can to win.
Intrigued? You should be! check it out:
I am positive that you know a good deal when you see one. After all, you read the ‘Armed American Report’!
Hoppe’s 9 Gun Cleaning Mat
USCCA GEAR REVIEW
We all own pistols, and as pistol owners, we just have to keep the things clean. It’s just part of the game, right? Well, a while ago, I invested in something that REALLY made my life a lot easier…
Have you ever had your pistol laid out on your carpet for cleaning, and spilled a jar of powder solvent? I guarantee that didn’t go over well with the rest of the residents of your house! Even if you lay a towel down, you always still end up getting that nasty black stuff on it… and it doesn’t come off too easily!
How about this- have you ever scratched your dining room table with the front site or the slide lock-lever of your gun? Or even worse, have you ever scratched your gun on a work bench?
The bummer about cleaning guns, is that for a period of time, they are very vulnerable as you have them tore apart and laid about. Springs can roll off tables, and there’s nothing worse than getting on your hands and knees, and shouting, “Kids, don’t come in here- daddy dropped a small part and I don’t want it getting kicked into the heat-duct before I can find it!
So anyway, here’s my ‘life-saving’ investment:
Yep, a gun cleaning mat. It cost a whole $10, and has saved probably $1,000 worth of bathroom towels, carpeting, and who knows what else! These things are a MUST have for anyone who owns a gun. They fold or roll up, and stick right in your cleaning kit. You can even take them to the range so you don’t have to set your guns on their side directly onto the wooden benches.
They have a hundred uses, and a ton of companies make them… I bought mine from Hoppe’s 9 because I have a lot of respect for the company, but I’m sure they all sell them.
This is probably the best bang-for-the-buck that you’ll ever get!
USCCA Members-Only Forum Highlights
Every Member has complete access to the USCCA forum, which is constantly being accessed by members sharing information, knowledge, insight, and fun. With well over thirty-five-thousand posts and growing by the hour, this is one heck of a valuable resource!
“Going for the Gun” (for real) first time!
You guys and gals have had to listen to my blabber now for some time. But I just had “the ultimate adrenaline rush” just a few moments ago. My hands are still shaking as I post this. No, I didn’t shoot anyone, but I think I was about as close as I’ve come to it in the last 15-20 years.
Here are the details:
I was leaving my business to go to another local business to buy supplies. There was a man, younger and physically more powerful than me, pedaling a bicycle across the parking lot, approaching me from the left. He looked like he was going to pass behind me about 10-15 feet back.
When he got about 20 feet from me he slammed on his brakes and slid the rear tire of his bicycle to the right, bringing him to a stop about 6-8 feet behind me, while he was sliding the bicycle, before it came to a stop, he said very loudly, “EXCUSE ME SIR!!!”
But the moment I’d heard his bicycle tire skidding, I’d gone into full alert mode and begun my tactical turn (Just as I’d been trained, plant the right foot and pivot on the balls of the feet) to face him. When I saw him aiming the bicycle in my direction, I’d assumed he was going to try to knock me down so I was in my fighting stance, knees flexed and ready to move in any direction necessary in order to avoid him and his bicycle. My gun side was away from him, but my hand was already on the grip of my pistol, and the hilt of my sheath knife was already in my left hand. I was ready to “throw down”, and convinced I was going to have to do it!
Then the most amazing thing happened . . . although he didn’t see any weapons, I’m sure he knew there were some . . . he just said very politely and quietly . . . “Never mind!” and pulled his front wheel right, away from me, and took off.
The most amazing thing about this was it was all like a rehearsed dance, my timing just ahead of his timing.
How did it happen like that?
Tactical turn . . . Check
Fighting stance . . . Check
Split second assessment of degree of threat . . . Check
Hands “automatically” snapped to “weapon” positions for threat level . . . Check
“I’m ya huckleberry” attitude . . . Check
Awareness . . . Check
WHY did it happen like that?
I’m convinced it’s because I’ve had good professional training that allowed me to “get to the dance” right on time to let him know there were easier ways to make a buck!
Everything I did, I did “automatically”, without conscious thought, thanks to professional trainers I won’t name here because there are other tactical trainers on this board I believe are just as competent.
My point . . . get you some professional training, because, at the “moment of truth” there’s only going to be a moment to get the job done. If I’d fumbled for a split second, I’m convinced that goon would have been all over me stomping a mudhole in me. I didn’t fumble. I’m convinced I didn’t because I did everything exactly the way it had been taught to me by professional trainers, and the way I’d practiced it thousands of times before.
Now, I know I didn’t do everything perfectly by any means, so I’ve given you the scenario to analyze, criticize, and help me learn from.
Thanks everyone in advance for your input. I would like to know your thoughts.
Chip
Selection of 1911 for carry
Good evening,
I am relatively new to the CCW world, but feel passionate about doing so. I am interested in carrying a 1911 for CC, and would like advice in two areas - brand and size of 1911. I grew up shooting your standard 1911/Series 70 Colts, so I am quite comfortable with the standard 5″ model.
1) Brands - the Taurus 1911 looks great, with a lot of the mods that MUCH higher-priced models have. I would love to have a Kimber, but the difference between $500 for a Taurus and $800 and up for a Kimber makes a huge difference for me. I would really like to hear from those of you who have experience with different brands of the 1911.
2) Size - what do you give up in accuracy and ability to conceal from the 5″ to 4″ or 3″? Practically speaking, does the inch or two in barrel length make that much of a difference in accuracy or the ability to conceal? I really like some of new micro-style 3″ 1911’s, but have not seen a lot on reliability and accuracy.
By the way, I normally carry IWB, usually a Glock 23 or Springfield XD9SC(would like to move this one up to a XD40SC).
I know that this is a lot of information, but I appreciate any advice and/or opinions!
Springfield XD
Does any one know of a discussion group on the XD series. Also does anyone carry a Springfield EMP.. I am looking to buy one or the other in the next few months.
Thanks
Jim
NRA & SHOT Show ‘08
USCCA VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Note: Because some email programs don’t display the newsletter very well when the Video of the Week is included, I’ve decided only display the video on the website itself. This change will make the newsletter load a lot faster for you, so I think you’ll like the change! To go to our newsletter site to watch it, visit the following link:
http://www.usconcealedcarry.org/news/newsletter/guns-save-lives/
“Tim-spiration” of the Week
USCCA PHOTO OF THE WEEK
- One of the great members-only areas of our site is the photo gallery. Every week, I give you a taste of the kinds of photos that are posted there!
USCCA QUOTE OF THE WEEK
- Sometimes a good quote will inspire or motivate you. Sometimes, they’ll just put a smile on your face! Here is the quote for this week…
“Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret. ”
-Robert E. Lee
Self Defense Story OF THE WEEK
- Every day, thousands of Armed Americans use their firearms to preserve human life. Let this section of my newsletter serve as a record of this fact!
- Suspect in Bay Point Killing Shot Roomate in Self-Defense
found at:CBS channel 5
A Bay Point man arrested last week on suspicion of fatally shooting his roommate was released from jail Friday after prosecutors decided the slaying was in self-defense, Contra Costa County Sheriff’s spokesman Jimmy Lee said today.
Andrew Mahler, 33, was detained for questioning Tuesday shortly after sheriff’s deputies found his roommate on the sidewalk in front of their residence at 44 Pensacola St. in the unincorporated community of Bay Point suffering from a gunshot wound, Lee said.
The roommate, 31-year-old William Lenox, was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Concord where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy found that he died form a gunshot wound to the abdomen, Lee said.
The shooting had reportedly occurred inside the roommates’ residence, Lee said. Mahler had then allegedly gone over to a neighbor’s house and either he or the neighbor called for help shortly after 5:30 p.m.
Deputies took Mahler to the station to question him and then officially arrested him at about 10:45 p.m., Lee said. He was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on suspicion of murder, but when investigators presented the case to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office Friday, prosecutors declined to file charges and Mahler was released Friday afternoon, Lee said.
Closing Thoughts
Well friends, that’s all for this week’s edition of the ‘Armed American Report’!
Don’t forget to participate in our ‘Armed American Report Challenge’! Even if you only refer one person, that still give you a VERY good chance to win! There’s no reason not to- You can’t win if you don’t play!!
Be Safe,
Tim Schmidt
Founder - U.S. Concealed Carry
http://www.usconcealedcarry.com
